Digital Commons Network^™

Towards Dynamic Interaction-Based Reputation Models, Almas Melnikov, Manuel Mazzara, Victor Rivera, Jooyoung Lee, Luca Longo

Articles

In this paper, we investigate how dynamic properties of reputation can influence the quality of users’ ranking. Reputation systems should be based on rules that can guarantee high level of trust and help identify unreliable units. To understand the effectiveness of dynamic properties in the evaluation of reputation, we propose our own model (DIB-RM) that utilizes three factors: forgetting, cumulative, and activity period. In order to evaluate the model, we use data from StackOverflow which also has its own reputation model. We estimate similarity of ratings between DIB-RM and the StackOverflow reputation model to test our hypothesis. We use two …

The Paradox Of Competition: Power, Markets, And Money - Who Gets What, When, How?, Martin Shubik

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Money is a mystery and financial institutions are often regarded as guardians and promoters of the mystery. These sketches are designed to help any reader interested in, but not technically trained in economics, understand markets, money, credit and the evolution of a mass market system set in the rich context of its political environment and society. We all want a good society. What is a good society is given by our joint vision, mutual respect and social concern but the implementation of the vision calls for the use and understanding of money, markets and finance. The efficient functioning of a …

Distributed Query-Aware Quantization For High-Dimensional Similarity Searches, Gheorghi Guzun, Guadalupe Canahuate

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The concept of similarity is used as the basis for many data exploration and data mining tasks. Nearest Neighbor (NN) queries identify the most similar items, or in terms of distance the closest points to a query point. Similarity is traditionally characterized using a distance function between multi-dimensional feature vectors. However, when the data is high-dimensional, traditional distance functions fail to significantly distinguish between the closest and furthest points, as few dissimilar dimensions dominate the distance function. Localized similarity functions, i.e. functions that only consider dimensions close to the query, quantize each dimension independently and only compute similarity for the …

The Lived Experiences Of Role Transition Among Novice Clinical Nurse Educators: A Phenomenological Study, Edwina Brathwaite

All Publications

No abstract provided.

Canine Emotions: Guidelines For Research, Miiamaaria V. Kujala

Animal Sentience

In the target article, I called for a discussion on the nature and extent of dogs’ emotions. The commentators generally agreed on the existence of dog emotions, but the diversity and quality of dog emotions, as well as the influence of human social cognition on perceiving dog emotions, raised more debate. To respond to the stimulating commentaries, I touch briefly on the philosophy of (canine) mind and discuss further the benefits of comparing cognition across species, secondary emotions, and the shaping of canine emotions by evolution, breeding and experience. I conclude with suggestions for future research guidelines on studies of …

Appointing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender And Queer Judges In The Trump Administration, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

President Donald Trump incessantly brags that American citizens selected him to “Make the Judiciary Great Again” and constantly reminds the public that the huge number of federal jurists whom Trump has appointed will be deciding cases decades after his tenure is over. Trump has rapidly submitted many circuit and district court candidates, but not one of his 123 nominees has been openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ). The White House has also instituted endeavors, specifically regarding transgender people, which seem discriminatory. Indeed, a third of the judicial nominees whom the President has appointed have compiled anti-LGBTQ records. Because …

Using Multiliteracies To Engage And Empower Students With Complex Support Needs, Sudha Vaghul Krishnan

Doctoral Dissertations

Using Multiliteracies to Engage and Empower Students with Complex Support Needs This dissertation is comprised of two studies:

• Creating New Learning Spaces Using Multiliteracies with Students with Complex Support Needs

• Transforming Narrative Identity through Multiliteracies

Students with complex support needs (SCSN) are frequently denied access to meaningful and challenging literacy instruction. These studies explore how student- authored narratives in the individualized education plan (IEP), implemented during a multiliteracies curriculum, can simultaneously engage and empower SCSN. These studies are based on the qualitative research that I conducted from November 15, 2018 to February 11, 2018 at a special day …

Investigating The Causes And Cures For Unclear Scholarly Writing, Marlene Ingrid Mahony

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation investigated possible causes and cures for unclear scholarly writing. For this study, a stipulative definition of unclear scholarly writing, or “academese,” is that the language tends to be vague and verbose. The problem, according to the included literature, is that people who use or accept vague language have less academic, social, professional, and civic power. Academese, some say, can detach readers and that can accordingly diminish collective exchange. Because higher education is meant to share knowledge, promote agency, and prepare students to communicate powerfully within and beyond the university, this study researched the causes and cures of …

An Examination Of Bullying In Catholic Middle Schools In The Pacific And Mountain States In The United States, Margaret Murphey

Doctoral Dissertations

Every child has a right to feel safe at school. The highest prevalence of bullying occurred in middle school grades 6 through 8. In a school environment, bullying can inhibit student learning, as it may cause a great deal of pain, anxiety, and stress for the victim. Bullying and aggressive behavior have negative effects on student learning and students’ attitudes toward school. The occurrence of bullying can change the expectation of security in a school climate. Schools need to teach acceptance toward all differences, an appreciation of diversity, and the significance of various collective customs and social characteristics that all …

And At Once My Chains Were Loosed: How The Black Panther Party Freed Me From My Colonized Mind, Linda Garrett

Doctoral Dissertations

The Black Panther Party was an iconic civil rights organization that started in Oakland, California, in 1966. Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the Party was a political organization that sought to serve the community and educate marginalized groups about their power and potential. This study examined the seminal texts about the creation of the Party that were written by the Party’s founders: Seize the Time (Seale, 1970), Revolutionary Suicide (Newton, 2009) and War Against the Panthers: A Study of Repression in America (Newton, 1980). Document analysis of these texts identified the main themes of preparation, connection, love the …

Use Of Multimedia Games For Biology Vocabulary Instruction, Ian Murray

Doctoral Dissertations

Vocabulary knowledge is considered fundamental to learning. However, students typically find learning scientific vocabulary quite difficult, and that is especially true for biology vocabulary. Games are well established as effective tools for vocabulary instruction. Multimedia instruction is likewise recognized as aiding vocabulary learning. To date, however, there seems have been little examination of the use of multimedia games in biology vocabulary instruction. This study, therefore, compared the effectiveness of digital multimedia games and traditional instruction in teaching biology vocabulary.

A two-group, quasi-experimental study was carried out over the course of 61 days. Participants were a convenience sample of 10 high …

Exploring Factors Influencing The Willingness To Communicate Among English-As-A-Second Language University Students, Chi-Fang (Michelle) Chang

Doctoral Dissertations

This present study anchored its inquiry in English oral communication and learning English as a second language. The purpose of the study was to explore the factors that influence the willingness to communicate (WTC) of ESL university students from the perspectives of both the students and their oral communication professor. Since the 1980s, WTC among ESL university students has attracted increasing attention because helping them communicate authentically is essential. WTC is correlated with overall English language proficiency because of its equal weight with the other language skills. Therefore, ESL students have targeted WTC as a vital skill. However, research on …

What Do We Really Know About Grit? A Multivariate Statistical Investigation On The Construct Validity Of Grit, Christine M. Collaco

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to collect evidence on the construct validity of grit using convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity principles. To accomplish this purpose and extend previous research on grit, college students from two schools completed an instrument comprised of a cognitive ability test, and a questionnaire. The questionnaire was comprised of existing and multiple measures of grit, interest, self-efficacy, locus of control, and conscientiousness along with a number of college success measures. Structural equation modeling was used as the primary statistical analysis technique. Factor analysis, correlation analysis, and path analysis were also used.

First, the results …

Two Case Studies Of Middle School Parents And Their Engagement With Schools Who Participate In Positive Behavior Support, Kathryn Work-Poggi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Positive Behavior Support (PBS) promotes the importance of all staff, school locations, and instructional settings emulating and purposefully teaching the same targeted behavioral expectations. One way to achieve this is to decisively partner with parents and jointly teach positive behavioral conduct and cultivate consistent behavioral expectations across home and school. The purpose of this study was to determine degrees of parent involvement within the confines of a qualitative case study to assess the perceptual nuances that parents experience with their child's middle school using the PBS process. Six parents across two middle schools employing PBS voluntarily shared their perceptions of …

Enhancing Online Security With Image-Based Captchas, Brian M. Powell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Given the data loss, productivity, and financial risks posed by security breaches, there is a great need to protect online systems from automated attacks. Completely Automated Public Turing Tests to Tell Computers and Humans Apart, known as CAPTCHAs, are commonly used as one layer in providing online security. These tests are intended to be easily solvable by legitimate human users while being challenging for automated attackers to successfully complete. Traditionally, CAPTCHAs have asked users to perform tasks based on text recognition or categorization of discrete images to prove whether or not they are legitimate human users. Over time, the efficacy …

Constitutional Rhetoric: The Genre Performances Of The Written Constitution In Transnational, Transcultural Contexts, Bhushan Aryal

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.

Biomimetic And Advanced Control Structure Design With Real Time Optimization, Temitayo Bankole

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.

A Census Of The Galactic Hii Region Population, William Paul Armentrout

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.

“Couldn’T It Be Birth To Five?”: Parents’ Perceptions Of Early Intervention For Their Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Hilary R. Bougher-Muckian

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this Grounded Theory study was to understand parents of children with autism’s perceptions of early intervention involvement, satisfaction, transition into and out of EI, and goals for their children’s development. Twenty parents participated in initial interviews and 13 parents participated in follow-up interviews. Data were analyzed and a theory was generated to describe parents’ experiences. Parents described their experiences and goals for their children in three stages: before, during, and after EI. In each of these stages, social and language/communication were a primary focus of parents’ goals for their children’s development. Prior to EI, parents expressed a …

Tobacco Use, Number Of Serious Smoking Cessation Attempts, And Interest In Lung Screening In A Sample Of Adult Muslims In The United States, Omar F.S. Attarabeen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Muslims in the United States (US) exhibit higher rates of tobacco use in comparison with rest of the US population. As a result, US Muslims might be at a higher risk for negative health consequences of tobacco use such as lung cancer. Investigating factors that are associated with tobacco use, number of smoking cessation attempts, and interest in lung screening in adult US Muslims can facilitate future efforts aimed at improving health outcomes, essentially through reducing tobacco use rates and promoting preventive lung screening in this population. Therefore, the current dissertation aimed to investigate the association of Social Cognitive Theory …

Transforming Undergraduate Stem Education: Reforming Classrooms By Training Current And Future Faculty, Karen E. Bailey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the absence of formal pedagogical training, educators tend to teach the way they were taught, using traditional lecturing. Numerous studies have shown that engaging students in active learning improves student learning and retention of knowledge. Reforming STEM education has become a national imperative. Since the turn of the millennium, many initiatives have sprung forth in response to a growing awareness of the need for reform in post-secondary biology education. The National Academies Summer Institutes (NASI) is one such initiative. The Summer Institutes provide training in evidence-based strategies for biology educators from primarily research universities where lecture-based teaching in large …

Using Incidental Teaching To Teach Mands To Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Katherine S. Robinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Children with autism display deficits in three core areas; communication, social interaction, and restrictive and repetitive behaviors. Deficits in communication often manifest in the form of maladaptive behaviors that serve to have the individuals needs and wants met. Additionally, children with autism may have difficulty generalizing learned skills to novel environments and with novel items. Naturalistic teaching procedures, such as incidental teaching, can promote generalization through the use of naturally occurring learning opportunities and reinforcers. The purpose of this study is to evaluate an incidental teaching procedure on the acquisition of both rate of manding behavior as well as a …

To Treat Or To Teach: Comparing Strategies To Reduce Escape-Maintained Behavior, Lucie M. Romano

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Differential negative reinforcement of alternative behavior (DNRA) reduces escape-maintained challenging behavior, but can result in lost instructional time. Instructional time could be maintained through interventions like curricular revision (CR), but the efficacy of CR is less established. We compared DNRA and CR for 3 children with age-typical intellectual functioning whose challenging behavior was maintained by escape from academic tasks. During DNRA, we taught the child to appropriately request a different, mastered task. During CR, we broke the original task into simpler components until the child mastered each component, but still permitted escape following challenging behavior. Curricular revision resulted in less …

A Quality Improvement Project To Increase Hepatitis A And B Vaccination In Adults With Hepatitis C In A Federally Qualified Health Center, Virginia M. Selanik

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Problem Statement: Despite long-standing recommendations for vaccination against hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis B (HBV) in persons with chronic liver disease and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the life-threatening complications suffered from cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer (HCC), vaccination rates for HAV and HBV in adults are suboptimal in clinical practice.;Theoretical Framework: Based upon published clinical guidelines and performance measures for optimal care of HCV-infected persons, a quality improvement project was implemented guided by Kotter's eight-step change model. Strategies adopted from the 4 Pillars(TM) Practice Transformation Program, including staff/provider education, standing orders, immunization champions, open access/walk-in vaccination during office …

Exploring The Geosensory In Geography: Examining Olfaction And Geo-Virtual Immersion As Contributors To A Sense Of Place And Embodiment, Aaron Michael Ferrari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Judgment Accuracy Of Repeated /R/ Stimuli By Graduate Clinicians, Lauren Glover

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.

Hybrid Electric Vehicle Torque Split Algorithm For Reduction Of Engine Torque Transients, Derek George

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.

Biophysical Investigation Of Phlip-Membrane Interaction, Chitrak Gupta

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.

Engineering The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Through Infiltrating The Porous Electrodes, Bryan Jackson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.

Satellite Based Predictability Of Water Sensitive Infectious Diseases, Md. Rakibul Hassan Khan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.